Never Let Me Go (A JohnKat FanFiction)
by MidnightBurst
Summary: After his unbelievable experience with the dangerous game Sburb and the trolls, John is certain he is still sane. He has no proof of these experiences except memories, but his memory was dependable more often than not. It couldn't all be a dream... could it?
1. Chapter 1

Maybe it was chance. Maybe it was fate. Whatever the cause, Karkat Vantas was certain of one thing- meeting John Egbert was the best thing to happen to him in his shitty, tragic life. He would endure all the teasing and torment he had faced previously time and time again, just to see the little dork's face and clutch his awkward, scrawny body in his arms. John was his. He protected him from the blatant lies and shocking truths of life as much as he could. Anything to preserve the innocence he had never known personally.

Snatching his bag, the short Cancer headed for the door. It was that time of the morning, the one he dreaded the most: the time he would go to school. Karkat had skipped enough school as of lately, and just thinking about returning sent scattered shivers down his frail back.

He received flashbacks whenever he thought of it, flashbacks of the terror and ridicule that plagued his memories and association with that simple building. A simple building so devoid of any negative connotation. It was a plain and practical facility, with bright, lively trees blocking the sides of it ever so slightly. An outsider may consider it visually appealing, and they would be right. But for Karkat, all positive thoughts of it ended there.

Nobody would understand the anxiety that high school evoked in the Cancer. Mustering the courage as he had to every morning, Karkat slammed the door to his small, cramped trailer and opened the door of his father's truck. Surely he wouldn't mind this once. He didn't have the energy to take the bus and face the assholes he encountered there, and by the time he had the car in his possession, Karkat would be long gone with nobody to stop him.

One New Message:

Sender Identified: Egbert, John

As he sped down the highway at his usual outrageous speed, the Cancer heard the noise of soft vibrations against the cheap leather passenger seats. He leaned over to the side, all the while keeping his left hand on the steering wheel simultaneously, making sure to keep his gaze at least partially on the road. Grasping the phone, he jabbed the keypad to view the text, then promptly dialed the callback number he knew by heart.

"Goddammit Egbert! Are you trying to get me killed?" was the way he greeted the boy on the receiving end. Karkat set his mobile on speaker phone, and placed it on the dashboard ahead of him, awaiting John's reply.

"Hello to you too, Karkat!" John chirped, disregarding Karkat's tone of voice. "What do you mean anyway?"

Karkat grunted. "I'm driving my own ass to our shitty education facility known as school." he snarled cantankerously.

A shrill car horn honked suddenly, and the short Cancer jumped at the loud auditory activity. His hands regained their grip on the wheel, and he flung it to the side violently to swerve out of the way. The teen's heart raced aggressively as his eyes remained fixed on the cars in front of him. No accident was caused thankfully.

His startled emotion quickly shifted to rage as he extended his two middle fingers to the car responsible. The lady inside of it gawked at him, then looked about ready to smack him. The feeling was mutual on Karkat's behalf.

"Karkat? What's going on? Are you there?" the Egbert inquired frantically, when not receiving a reply. The teen driver cursed under his breath before providing a response.

"Some asshole tried to start an accident." he said with loathing.

John was silent for a moment, as he processed this new information.

"Well I doubt they did it on purpose." John reasoned to him.

"You're okay though, right?"

Karkat smiled just a bit at this. John was one of the few, if not the only, who would actually worry about his life. He didn't want to admit it but this created a sentimental feeling in his often cold heart. It's not that he couldn't love. It's that he didn't know how. But lately it seemed that Egbert was doing his best to become his teacher.

"Listen Egbert, I gotta go. Off to the hellhole. You better fucking be there. I swear, I couldn't survive a school day without someone half decent like you."

John blushed wildly, knowing this was a high compliment from him.

"Kk." John replied, his notoriously cheery self giggling at his own pun.

"Karkat? Before you go... I just wanted to say that I'm glad you're okay. Stay safe..."

"Okay?"

With that, they hung up.


	2. Chapter 2

The room was quiet and sterile. Bright, almost artificial light filtered in through the parted curtains. John sat up tentatively, and reached for his glasses. He became aware of his new surroundings and at realization, widened his gaze. How had he ended up here? And where exactly was "here"?

Even without his glasses, the change in scenery was significant. The area had been painted meticulously with dull white paint, to match the rest of its subdued decor. John couldn't decide whether the hue was comforting or unnecessarily bland, thus making it uncomfortable.

His first thought was his computer. He had to get to his computer. The problem though, was that John was not completely certain as to where the aforementioned device was located in this new facility.

Pushing his glasses onto his face, the young boy scanned the scene for clues. After locating the cord attached to it, the rest wasn't that difficult. Finally something rewarding! Despite his apprehension that stemmed from waking up in an unknown location, the fact that his computer had followed him brought him comfort.

It had been placed directly in the center of the tan desk it resided on. John approached it, stumbling slightly from his previous sleepy state, and collapsing on the desk chair. The black haired boy ran a finger through his locks and proceeded to jab the power button with the opposite one.

The usual welcome screen greeted him as he sat expectantly for it to load. Same old routine, day after day. It was more than worth it though, because after the long wait for his old computer to boot up, he would be provided the oppurtunity to talk with all his best friends. Jade, Rose, Dave, and the strange aliens they had met through Sburb. Even Karkat was a best friend of his. Actually, now that he thought of it, especially Karkat.

It was odd. They were complete opposites, yet so close. At least he thought they were close. You could never tell with Karkat, what with his reverse displays of affection.

The young boy was pulled out of his thoughts by a loud auditory alert that the computer had signed on and was ready for use. Funny, he didn't remember having the volume that loud. Then again, who memorizes how loud they keep their volume?

As always, the first thing on his mind was checking his Pesterchum. Hopefully it wasn't too backed up on messages, because he wasn't sure how long he had been here and when he had last been on.

His eyes widened in sheer shock. After an extensive search through the whole computer and its files, not one thing existed by the name of Pesterchum. Nor did any previous chat data appear when he searched stored files. It wasn't something he would have done to clean up his computer, because he certainly would not have deleted Pesterchum. It was his only lifeline to his friends that meant the world to him.

He began to process everything he had thought, observed and discovered. He had dreamt last night, come to think of it. It was so vividly engrained into his memory that he could forget if he tried. Every bit of it came back through a surge of information. The Karkat, the automobile, driving to school and them talking on the phone the way there. And the fact that the pessimisstic troll had almost met an untimely demise at the hands on another driver on the road.

But as all dreams went, this one had its bizarre elements. How was an alien on Earth operating a motor vehicle properly, let alone using it to go to school? It was just a dream after all though, so he let it slide. But how much more of this was a dream? Had any of it happened at all? There was no solid proof, for Pesterchum had mysteriously disappeared.

Or maybe it had never existed in the first place.


End file.
